Method and device for evaluating deformations and forces
A method and a device for evaluating the deformations or forces to which a structure having an elastomeric body (2) is subjected. The device includes a dipole (6), the dielectric (3) of which is formed by the elastomeric body, and an electronic analyzing circuit sensitive to a variation of a capacitive characteristic of the dipole caused by the deformations of the elastomeric body. In particular, but not exclusively, the invention relates to a device for evaluating the forces to which a pneumatic tire is subjected when rolling, as it passes through the contact area. The invention applies similarly in other structures having an elastomeric body, such as, for example, the elastomeric joints intended for the chassis system of vehicles.
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This application is a continuation of Application No. PCT/EP02/00180, filed on Jan. 10, 2002.
The present invention relates to the chassis system of motor vehicles and in particular to the information relating to the forces which are exerted between the vehicle and the ground or between the various elements of the chassis system.
The chassis system of motor vehicles consists of a chain of elements or structures linking the vehicle body to the ground on which the vehicle moves. Within this chain, the following elements or structures may be identified: the pneumatic tire, the wheel, the hub, the hub carrier, the ball joints, the pivots, the suspension arms or wishbones, the elastomeric joints or bushings, the springs, the shock absorbers. These elements or structures transmit to the body the forces to which the pneumatic tire is subjected in the contact area. These elements or structures are deformable to a greater or lesser extent, that is to say they deform to a greater or lesser extent when a given force is transmitted by the chain. If the forces transmitted by the chain are to be ascertained, they may be deduced theoretically from the deformations of each element of the chain. It is, for example, known to measure the forces in the suspension arms with the aid of deformation gauges, the electric resistance of which varies as a function of the deformation to which the arms are subjected. The present invention proposes to utilise the fact that the deformation is more sensitive and/or more significant in certain elements of the chassis system. This is the case of the pneumatic tires or elastomeric joints. The reason for this is that these elements consist largely of an elastomeric material, generally rubber, so that their rigidity is much lower than that of the other elements of the chain, which are generally metal.
According to a further characteristic of the invention, the measurement of a capacitive electrical characteristic of at least one electric dipole, the dielectric of which consists of an elastomeric body subjected to the deformations of the structure, is used.
The fact that the variation of a capacitive characteristic is used permits, in particular, a measurement with a low energy consumption. This is particularly beneficial with regard to a power supply of the device which may be effected, for example, by a small-size battery or by remote supply.
The invention therefore relates to a device for evaluating deformations of a structure comprising an elastomeric body and intended to belong to the chassis system of a vehicle, the said device comprising an electric dipole, the dielectric of which is formed by the said elastomeric body and an electronic analysing circuit sensitive to a variation of a capacitive characteristic of the dipole caused by the said deformations of the said body.
The device of the invention may also further comprise means for evaluating forces to which the said structure is subjected as a function of the said deformations caused by the said forces.
Preferably, the dipole comprises filar electrodes which are substantially parallel.
The device of the invention may be employed in a pneumatic tire.
The invention also relates to a pneumatic tire including at least one such device. According to a first embodiment, the dipole is situated in the thickness of the tread and preferably in the volume of a tread pattern element. The dielectric of the dipole may advantageously consist of the material which constitutes the tread at least in the zone in which it is situated. The electrodes of the dipole are preferably filar, substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the tread and substantially parallel to the transverse direction of the tread in order to evaluate the longitudinal deformations. In contrast, in order to evaluate the transverse deformations, the filar electrodes of the dipole are preferably substantially perpendicular to the transverse direction of the tread and substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the tread. In these configurations, the electrodes are preferably situated substantially in the same radial plane of the tread. The said device may also comprise at least three electrodes which, between them, constitute at least two dipoles.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the device comprises two filar electrodes situated in a zone of the tread which is not intended to come into contact with the ground when the pneumatic tire is rolling, for example between two tread blocks.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the device is situated in a sidewall of the pneumatic tire and the dielectric preferably consists of the elastomeric material which constitutes the sidewall at least in the zone in which it is situated. In the sidewall, the electrodes are substantially parallel and oriented substantially radially. The electrodes may, for example, be situated substantially at the same distance from the centre plane of the pneumatic tire or be spaced from one another in the direction of the thickness of the sidewall, depending on the type of deformations to which it is desired that the device is most sensitive.
The electrodes may consist of interdigitated combs in order to improve the quality of the signal.
The pneumatic tire according to the invention may comprise a plurality of dipoles arranged along the circumference of the sidewall and connected to one another in parallel to form a single dipole.
The invention also relates to an elastomeric joint, in particular intended for the chassis system of a vehicle, comprising at least one such evaluating device.
The invention also relates to a method for evaluating deformations of a structure comprising an elastomeric body, consisting in deducing the said deformations from variations of a capacitive characteristic of at least one dipole, the dielectric of which is formed by the said elastomeric body.
The invention also relates to a method for evaluating the forces to which a structure comprising an elastomeric body is subjected, the said method consisting in evaluating the said forces from deformations of the said body caused by the said forces, the resistivity of the said body being greater than 1013 Ω.cm, the said method being characterised in that the said deformations are deduced from variations of a capacitive characteristic of at least one dipole, the dielectric of which is formed by the said elastomeric body.
Depending on their compositions, the elastomeric materials are of greater or lesser conductivity, that is to say they constitute a more or less good dielectric. The more the elastomeric body is a good dielectric, the less the measurement of capacitance or capacitive impedance is affected by the leakage currents from the dipole. This is why a preferred embodiment of the device of the invention uses as dielectric an elastomeric material having a resistivity greater than 108 Ω.cm and preferably even greater than 1013 Ω.cm. To do this, use is made of an elastomer whose reinforcing filler consists of insulating material, such as, for example, silica, alumina, chalk or starch, in order to limit or eliminate the portion of carbon black conventionally used, since it is a conductor. Moreover, the resultant conductivity of the mixtures filled with carbon black is difficult to ascertain precisely, thereby rendering the measurement of the capacitive characteristic more uncertain.
The capacitive characteristic may be the capacitance which is measured in continuous electrical duty or the capacitive impedance which is measured in dynamic electrical duty.
Thus, the device of the invention allows the forces to which the structure is subjected to be evaluated. This evaluation may be performed by the device itself or by a computing system integrated in the vehicle which uses the deformation measurements resulting from the device of the invention. The signal representing the variation of capacitive characteristic and therefore the deformation of the structure may also be used as it is by a computing system integrated in the vehicle. In fact, the device of the invention is a “sensor” which allows the deformation of a deformable structure to be detected and is capable of processing a signal representing the deformation, this signal being usable by the device itself or by other devices as an input signal in the context, for example, of driving aids (ABS, ASR, ESP, measurement of pneumatic tire pressure, automatic level control, body roll control, etc . . . ).
Preferably, the electrodes of the dipole are substantially parallel filar elements. “Filar elements” are understood to mean elements having a great length compared with the other dimensions, such as, for example, wires, wire bundles, cables, beams, tubes. Consequently, the device is sensitive to deformations mainly in a single direction which is the direction which causes a variation of the distance between the electrodes. Moreover, the rigidity of the dielectric in the direction perpendicular to the axis of a filar element is little affected by the longitudinal rigidity of this filar element.
Preferably, the electrodes are metal and consist of wires or wire arrangements comparable with those which are conventionally used to reinforce the pneumatic tires.
The above-mentioned characteristics of the present invention, as well as others, will be better understood on reading the description of the figures, in which:
These figures illustrate two main types of instrumentation of a pneumatic tire, in zones of high deformations thereof, the tread and the sidewall, the sensor described being essentially a deformation sensor. The instrumentation of a pneumatic tire according to this methodology is, however, not limited to these two zones.
The tread 1 comprises an insulating elastomeric body 3, filled with silica for example, which is positioned outside of the belt reinforcements 4 and in the volume of a tread block 2. The elastomeric body 3 constitutes the dielectric of an electric dipole. The electrodes of the dipole, which consist of two parallel wires 6, are positioned perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction X of the tread, in the same radial plane YZ. The capacitive characteristics of the dipole thus constituted vary as a function of the deformation of the elastomeric body 3.
When the pneumatic tire is rolling on the ground 8, the tread element 2 is subjected to variable forces. These forces, developed at the interface of the tread element 2 and the ground 8, are transmitted to the inside of the tread 1 and have the effect of deforming the elastomeric body 3. Then, the distance between the wires 6 of the electric dipole varies, which modifies its capacitive electrical impedance or capacitance. The evolution of the capacitive electrical impedance or capacitance of the electric dipole is closely related to the forces developed at the interface between the tread element 2 and the road 8 and this can possibly allow these forces to be evaluated.
Such a spatial arrangement of the filar electrodes 6 which constitute the electric dipole render the capacitive measurement particularly sensitive to shear forces in the rolling direction X. This measurement is not, however, sensitive to the direction of shear deformation in the X direction.
A method of further minimising the sensitivity of the electric dipole to the shear forces developed in the direction Y perpendicular to X consists in dimensioning the filar electrodes 6 in such a way that the ratio of their lengths is substantially different from 1 and that their relative positioning (along the Y axis) is such that the facing length of the electrodes does not vary in the event of shear in the Y direction.
The above-described electric dipole may be positioned no longer perpendicular but parallel to the rolling direction X, in the same plane XZ. Thus, the capacitive measurement between the two filar electrodes 6 becomes particularly sensitive to shear forces developed in the Y direction, and its sensitivity to the shear forces developed in the rolling direction X may be minimised in the same way as before.
This configuration with three electrodes permits several methods of exploiting the variations of capacitive characteristic. Indeed, it is of course possible to measure the variation of the capacitive characteristic of each dipole to ascertain the deformations and forces to which the rubber element of the tread is subjected, as described above.
However, this configuration furthermore has the consequence, on the one hand, that the difference between the capacitive measurements resulting from the two dipoles is even more sensitive (the sensitivity increases by a factor of at least 2) to the shear deformations in the X direction and, on the other hand, that the sum of these two capacitive measurements is perfectly representative of the compression deformation of the dielectric in the Z direction. This is due to the fact that the effect of compression according to Z is substantially the same for each of the two dipoles, whereas the effect of the shear according to X is substantially opposite for each dipole.
This configuration may therefore advantageously be employed to ascertain the forces according to Z and/or to ascertain with greater precision the shear forces.
These statements are respectively valid when the electrodes of the electric dipole are oriented parallel to the rolling direction X and when the measurement relates to the shear in the transverse direction Y, as described above.
The wires hardly disturb the mechanical operation of the pneumatic tire and the evolution of the measured capacitive characteristic is perfectly representative of the circumferential extension of the sidewall.
The electrodes 6 may be positioned anywhere in the thickness of the sidewall 10. The section of
In the same way as before, the mechanical operation of the pneumatic tire is hardly disturbed by the presence of these wires. With this configuration, the evolution of the capacitive impedance or capacitance between the wires 6 is representative of the variations of the thickness of the sidewall. The thickness of the sidewall varies in relation to the circumferential extension of the sidewall and its bending in accordance with Poisson's law. The latter governs the deformations of a material in perpendicular directions, as known.
It may be advantageous for at least one of the two metal electrodes of the electric dipole to be in the shape of a comb. The metal electrodes 6 are then positioned in such a way that each tooth of one of the electrodes adjoins one or two teeth of the other electrode (interdigitated comb).
Particularly in the application to the measurement of the circumferential extension of the sidewall, the use of electrodes in the shape of a comb has at least two advantages. A first advantage is that the variation of capacitive characteristic with the circumferential extension increases (and therefore is potentially more simple to measure) in proportion to the number of teeth of the combs constituting the electric dipole. A second advantage lies in the fact that, since the measurement relates to a more extensive area of the structure, it represents the equivalent of the “average” of several local measurements. This reduces the sensitivity of the device to the dispersion of the local mechanical properties of the pneumatic tire.
The deformations of the instrumented zones of the sidewall of the pneumatic tire take place mainly on passing through the contact area. It may be beneficial to combine a plurality of sensors over the circumference of the pneumatic tire. If this plurality of sensors are connected in parallel, a plurality of significant measurements can be carried out on each wheel revolution. In this case, the evolution of the measured capacitance will take account of the successive deformations of a plurality of zones of the sidewall. The possible overlapping of different deformations may be taken into account by an appropriate signal processing.
This combination is illustrated schematically in
It may also be beneficial, in order to improve the volume of data used by the processing of the signal, to instrument the two sidewalls of the pneumatic tire with one or more configurations of sensors according to the invention.
The device of the invention may be employed in the form of a device integrated in the pneumatic tire but also in the form of an independently produced element fixed on the pneumatic tire during production or subsequently.
The device of the invention may also be installed in an accessory of the pneumatic tire, such as an inner tube which is subjected to the deformations of the pneumatic tire.
The illustrations of the pneumatic tire are limited here to the application of the invention to the pneumatic tire, but as explained in the preamble of the present description, the invention applies similarly in other structures comprising an elastomeric body, such as, for example, the elastomeric joints intended for the chassis system of a vehicle.
Preferably, the geometrical dimensions of the wires constituting the electric dipoles should be small, namely wire diameters less than or equal to 1 mm, and wire lengths less than or equal to 1 cm, so that their insertion does not disturb the mechanical operation of the pneumatic tire too much.
To reduce the effect of external electromagnetic interference, which may possibly be the source of errors in the evaluation of the deformations, the device of the invention may also comprise an electromagnetic screen. This electromagnetic screen must be sufficiently electrically conductive, and its intrinsic electrical properties (conductivity, permittivity) sufficiently stable (mechanically and thermally), so as not to modify the electrical operation of the measurement means. The material constituting the electromagnetic screen must be sufficiently deformable so as not to modify the mechanical operation of the structure with which the device of the invention is associated.
Claims
1. Device for evaluating deformations in a tire, said device comprising a dipole having filar electrodes, the dielectric of said dipole being formed by an elastomeric body being subject to the deformations of the tire, said device comprising an electronic analyzing circuit sensitive to a variation of a capacitive characteristic measured between said filar electrodes of the dipole, said variation being caused by said deformations of said tire wherein the resistivity of said elastomeric body being greater than 1013 Ω.cm.
2. Device according to claim 1, further comprising means for evaluating forces to which said structure is subjected as a function of said deformations caused by said forces.
3. Device according to claim 1, said electrodes being substantially parallel.
4. A pneumatic tire in combination with a device for evaluating deformations in the tire, the device comprising a dipole having filar electrodes, the dielectric of the dipole being formed by an elastomeric body being deformable in response to tire deformations, the device comprising an electronic analyzing circuit sensitive to a variation of a capacitive characteristic measured between the filar electrodes of the dipole, the variation being caused by the tire deformations wherein the resistivity of said elastomeric body being greater than 1013 Ω.cm.
5. The pneumatic tire according to claim 4 further comprising means for evaluating forces to which said structure is subjected as a function of said deformations caused by said forces.
6. The pneumatic tire according to claim 4, said electrodes being substantially parallel to one another.
7. The pneumatic tire according to claim 6 wherein the tire comprises a tread, the dipole embedded within the tread.
8. The pneumatic tire according to claim 7 wherein the dielectric comprises a portion of the tread.
9. The pneumatic tire according to claim 7, wherein said device comprising two filar electrodes arranged substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the tread and substantially parallel to the transverse direction of the tread.
10. The pneumatic tire according to claim 9, wherein said filar electrodes are situated substantially in the same radial plane of the tread.
11. The pneumatic tire according to claim 7, wherein the filar electrodes comprise two filar electrodes arranged substantially perpendicular to a transverse direction of the tread and substantially parallel to a longitudinal direction of the tread.
12. The pneumatic tire according to claim 11, wherein the filar electrodes comprise at least three filar electrodes which constitute at least two dipoles.
13. The pneumatic tire according to claim 7, wherein said device comprises two filar electrodes situated in a zone of the tread arranged to be spaced from the ground when the pneumatic tire is rolling.
14. The pneumatic tire according to claim 4 wherein the tread includes tread blocks, the dipole being embedded in a tread block.
15. The pneumatic tire according to claim 6, wherein said device is situated in the tire sidewall.
16. The pneumatic tire according to claim 15 wherein said dielectric consists of the elastomeric material which constitutes said sidewall at least in the zone in which said dielectric is situated.
17. The pneumatic tire according to claim 15 wherein said dipole comprises electrodes which are substantially parallel to one another and oriented substantially radially.
18. The pneumatic tire according to claim 17 wherein said electrodes are substantially parallel to the sidewall and extend along a radius of the pneumatic tire, all of said electrodes being situated substantially at the same distance from the center plane of the pneumatic tire.
19. The pneumatic tire according to claim 17 wherein said electrodes are substantially parallel to one another and to the sidewall and extend along a radius of the pneumatic tire, each of said electrodes being spaced from one another in the direction of the thickness of the sidewall.
20. The pneumatic tire according to claim 17 wherein the electrodes consist of interdigitated combs.
21. The pneumatic tire according to claim 17, wherein a plurality of dipole elements are arranged along the circumference of the sidewall and are connected to one another in parallel to form the dipole.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Jul 8, 2003
Date of Patent: Oct 25, 2005
Patent Publication Number: 20040004486
Assignee: Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A. (Granges-Paccot)
Inventors: Valéry Poulbot (Les Martres d'Artiere), Lionel Fagot-Revurat (Ussel de Vensat), Heathcliff Demaie (Clermont-Ferrand)
Primary Examiner: Anjan Deb
Attorney: Buchanan Ingersoll PC
Application Number: 10/614,329